EVAINU research: New virtual learning environments for educational innovation at university

New virtual learning environments for educational innovation at the university of the present-future - EVAINU - is a research project financed by the Autonomous University of Barcelona as part of its support for emerging research groups. The project came about as a result of the growing presence of the ICTs in the higher education system and has focused on identifying typical cases, which use these media at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) involving some form of curricular innovation or improvement in accordance with the European convergence processes, which the Spanish university system is currently undergoing. As a result, three case studies of different qualifications were carried out in order to investigate their potential for improving university education. One of these cases - Virtual Veterinary Science - is described in this study. Among the preliminary results of this research so far, of particular interest is the fact that while the ICTs are clearly an important opportunity to make a qualitative leap and to go beyond teaching outlooks based on exposition, passive reception, and memorising, more institutional support is necessary in terms of working strategies, which promote new ways of organising teaching, the development of ICT skills among teaching staff and students, and the creation of incentives for teacher training, among other initiatives. Copyright © 2007 Idea Group Inc.